Sometimes pros can get custom rackets catered to them personally. And taking off cosmetics (paint) could shave off a few grams/OZs and it’s cheaper than making the actual racket lighter. And the cosmetics are shaved off Gregoire’s rackets so it’s probably just that he likes his racket lighter.

Got a good look at his racket in person as well and noticed he shaves off the bumper guard so its just the top part of it that holds all the grommets in place. Also he strings his racket at a very loose 22 lbs.

Simon, Will, Pierre
Thank you for good observations and interesting info on Gregoire’s Carboflex 125.

Liam (the stringer and racket customizer) states that most pros add weight to the handle of the sales rackets. So shaving/sanding the tip (like Gregory Gaultier racket) is not so much to have a lighter racket, but to change the balance point having the possibility to move/add weight towards or into the handle. GG racket is said to be 157 grams and 33 cm balance.

Lets kill the powerhype of the lighter rackets, even premium commentators at SquashTV states repeatedly that both Greg and Ramys rackets are incredibly light. Not so, the magical LightSabre, the YodaStick as racket does not exist, and is only a wet marketing dream. Squash rackets are more related to real swords as important tools regarding usefullness maneuverability and power. We all (should/will) know that the lightest racket is as pointless/useless/unplayable as the racket with the fewest strings. Imagine playing squash with a badminton racket or one that teoretically weights zero grams or one that only have two main strings! Thats powerfull beond real, and not a very good squash racket, will probably be called the BioSuperNanoToothlessShark.

I can understand that the heaviest squash racket in the world is not selling a lot, and that often lightweight is an important buying consideration for tents or laptops when backpacking without Sherpa, but when getting married we do not normally choose the lightest wife or husband…

Most of the rackets from the shop are luckily much heavier than announced anyway. Marketing info is totally unreliable. Weight is announsed sometimes totally stripped, without strings, grip, bumper, paint, . Other times, like the Harrow Spark I recently bought supposed to be 135 grams finished weight, weighing in at my place at 146grams. Likevise with my Tecnifibre 135 Supreme, at home weighing 164 grams. GoGreen! Strings are 10-15 grams and grip is about the same. So the Carboflex 125 will probably be 155grams total.

It would also be interesting to know how much weight Gregoire’s rackets are added (in the handle?), and what total weight and balance point that would give, optimized for him, and probably for most others also a good racket to get used to, or start of with.

In choosing rackets, personal preference is overrated, a good/best racket is more objective (like a premium chefs kitchen knife or Makita drill), and you should get used to it, not the other way around!?

(Sorry for length and grammar, but so little info on this important subject for the quality of our game found on the internett)
Hurray!
Ole